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CST Nov 1888
1888 Nov 4 Vampire of Lakeview Claes Larsen Print Info * Chicago Sunday Tribune * Chicago, Illinois * Sun, Nov 4, 1888 * Page 25 * Author: Unknown - No author given * Relevant To: Samuel Patton, Article Text VAMPIRE OF LAKE VIEW. IT RUNS AWAY WITH CLAES LARSEN OF NO. 1538 OTTO STREET. His Friends Occupy Several I Mays In a Vain Effort to Find Him Saloonkeeper Says He Seemed to Have a Foreboding of His Doom His Coat Found on North Halsted Street Complaint Made to the Police After the Search Is Given Up He Returns. The vampire of Lake View, originally covered by Mr. Samuel Patton, author of "Spirit Life as It Is," and inventor of a glass through which you can see the ghosts of departed friends, is up to its old tricks again. Since its recent exposure itt THE TRIBUNE it has kept tolerably quiet, and the citizens of Lake View were beginning to forget its visits when, last Friday night, Mrs. Claes Larsen, living at No. 1538 Otto street, oecame terribly frightened by the prolonged absence of her husband, a mild and inoffensive Swede. Otto street, which at night is always lonely, has recently been rendered almost impassable and uninhabitable by the masons who are building new houses upon the waste lands which surround it; and the Swedes of the vicinity, who are a simple folk, shook their heads and said: "These frameworks of new houses might conceal a dozen ghosts. If ever the vampire returns to Lake View he will begin his operations in Otto street." Friday night passed and Mr. Larsen failed to come home. It was a cold, clear night, and the moon streamed ghastly pale on the glass rooted conservatory at the foot of it. The little cluster of houses around No. 1538 pointed their sharp peaks to the frosty sky; and the walls of the new houses over the way shone weirdly in the moonlight and seemed to be peopled with hobgoblins. All night long Mrs. Larsen kept her vigil. At dawn she hurried to her neighbors. They had only one cry-'-"The Vampire." Before the early laborers had settled to their work Lake View had spread the tidings that the vampire had run away with Mr. Larsen. TRACING HIM UP. An investigation was at once set on foot. The missing man was traced to a beer saloon on North Clark street. The proprietor stated that Mr. Larsen had seemed to him maudlin, as though oppressed with a sense of his coming doom; that Mr. Larsen had had trances or visions, sometimes taking the form of stakes; and that Mr. Larsen had repeatedly expressed his intention of going "on a bat" "Bat!" cried the leader of the investigating party. "To what bat could the unhappy man refer if not to the vampire?" A Pole who formed one of the party was disposed to be critical. "What historical proof exists," he demanded, "that a vampire is a bat?" The objection being voted trivial the evidence of the saloonkeeper was reduced to writing, and a member of the Lake View Historical Society subsequently interviewed him to gather points for a forthcoming paper on "Vampires as Agents of Mysterious Disappearances. With Particular Reference to Boodiers, Defaulting Cashiers, and Runaway Husbands." (note: No copy of this paper has turned up) The investigation was hardly completed before fresh evidence of the vampire's visit was brought to Mrs. Larsen. At the foot of one of the tender saplings that are ranged along North Halsted street a car conductor had spied a tattered coat. Mrs. Larsen immediately identified it as that of her husband; "For," said she, "I have sewed on it as many patches as there are years in my life, and I shall be 45 next week." And, sure enough, there were forty-four patches on the coat and an excellent position for the forty-fifth. The Lake View Historical Society regarded this as conclusive. "Vampires," said the members. "are believed to be particular about clothing. No matter how thirstily they may drink the blood of their victims they have never been known to touch the garments. It is on record that in Galicia during the middle ages a vampire which counted its prey by the thousand happened to swallow the waistcoat button of a substantial farmer and immediately expired." SEARCHING FOR CLOTHING These conclusions of the Historical Society excited the citizens of Lake View to a remarkable degree. All Saturday afternoon the search for articles of Mr. Larsen's clothing continued. A battered hat and an old boot were found on Diversey street, the latter stained with blood, as though the vampire had bitten its victim in the heel. There was talk of establishing a vigilance committee. A band of courageous lads, all under 10 years of age, was organized under the name of the " Vampire Hunters' Its mission was to scour Lincoln Park in search of the monster. Its captain fortified the members by reciting to them the story of St. George and the dragon and narrating the adventures of classical heroes ix the destruction of extraordinary animals. In short, Lake View went to bed Saturday night in a state of unprecedented excitement. Early Sunday morning Mrs. Larsen presented herself at police headquarters and told the sad tale of her husband's disappearance. The entry was made in the usual style: "Name of party, Claes Larsen. Age, 46. Cause of disappearance, a Vampire." Nothing was mentioned during Sunday but the vampire. The attendance at the Lake View churches was noticeably light. Almost everybody staid at home to gossip about the vampire. Twilight was falling over Otto street; the half-built houses were beginning to put on their spectral appearance for the night, when a familiar form stood at Mrs. Larsen's door. She opened the door and fainted. Claes Larsen had come home. The vampire had given up its prey. And yesterday the hero of this adventure was seen at his house. He was meek and contrite, and his wife, who was busy in the kitchen, kept looking at him sadly but affectionately. "I don't know nothing," he observed. with a Swedish wealth of negatives, "about no vampire. I was out two days on a shpree. Dot is all." Citations * MLA: Unknown, No author given. “VAMPIRE OF LAKE VIEW. IT RUNS AWAY WITH CLAES LARSEN.” Chicago Sunday Tribune, 4 Nov. 1888, p. 25. * APA: Unknown, N. (1888, November 4). VAMPIRE OF LAKE VIEW. IT RUNS AWAY WITH CLAES LARSEN. Chicago Sunday Tribune, p. 25. * Chicago: Unknown, No Author given. "VAMPIRE OF LAKE VIEW. IT RUNS AWAY WITH CLAES LARSEN." Chicago Sunday Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), November 4, 1888. Article Pics Category:Clipping Category:Citations Page Category:Lake View Vampire Category:Samuel Patton